In commemoration of the 20-year anniversary of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA), the Ford School and the Weiser Center for Diplomacy hosted Charles Luftig, deputy director of National Intelligence Policy and Capabilities, for a public talk about the future of U.S. intelligence. Earlier in the day, eight students joined Luftig for an intimate conversation over brunch, facilitated by national security expert Javed Ali. After sharing an overview of his career, Luftig answered questions from Ford School students, guiding how to navigate a career in national intelligence.
Students were curious about the political aspects of working in national security and how a presidential transition might affect intelligence work.
Luftig explained that an administrative transition is particularly disruptive at an agency like the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), where roughly 40 percent of employees are detailed from other intelligence agencies, and must decide to stay at ODNI or return to their home agencies. He also said that behind closed doors the legislative oversight committees have a good working relationship and work together toward the same goals.
“At lower levels, there's a lot of insulation between the political elements of administration and the people who are actually doing the work. But there's no question that the same forces that affect the political discourse in the public affect people's perspectives who go to work every day in the intelligence community…”
Luftig also noted the bipartisan efforts of the congressional intelligence committees helps facilitate nonpartisan work in the intelligence community, “One thing that's also helpful is our oversight committees—the Senate and House Intelligence Committees—also try to work in a nonpartisan way. That gets harder when cameras are on and we have open hearings. But particularly behind closed doors, everyone is working together. In fact, for a while, I didn’t realize which of the staffers was on which side of the committee because everyone is working towards the same goals. That has an effect. I think that cascades into the work of the intelligence community as well. If they can do it on the legislative side, then that is something we want to model as well and encourage on the executive side because it only strengthens our ability. But I think it's a constant challenge and one that we need to be mindful of and do everything we can to sort of tamp down because national security really should not be political in my view.”
For students looking to break into an intelligence-focused career, Luftig shared that flexibility is key.
”I think if you want a specific job in the intelligence community, it is very hard to join the intelligence community. If you are willing to do different types of jobs to get into the intelligence community, then it's easier to get in. The most important part is getting your foot in the door and then you have the opportunity to move laterally between departments or agencies.” Luftig also stressed the importance of building and maintaining relationships in the intelligence community and striving to be the best version of yourself at work.
When asked about the distinctions between intelligence and foreign policy, Luftig noted that while the State Department is not technically part of the intelligence community, they are interrelated.
“One of the functions of the intelligence community is to support policymakers and one of the things that ODNI has a particular focus on is making sure that the intelligence community is well postured to support specific diplomatic initiatives. President Biden was very focused on creating the quad in Southeast Asia: the US, Australia, India, and UK. … It's useful if we can have intelligence exchanges with those countries so that there's a common factual understanding so that when the leaders come together, they receive a briefing about the world that takes into account how we're all seeing it. We advance diplomacy by ensuring that we're doing some of the structural work that supports a lot of those conversations.”
Luftig’s team noted that for anyone interested in an intelligence career, intel.gov and https://www.intelligencecareers.gov/ have a lot of great resources that differentiate each of the agencies.
On the insight students gained from the career conversation, Javed Ali said, “As someone who myself spent six years in two different positions in the ODNI during my government career, I for one saw first-hand the value of this new organization after 9/11 and why the passage of the 2004 law was so important in transforming US intelligence. Students were also interested to hear more details from Charles about the inner workings of ODNI, its relationship to other intelligence components, and key challenges it will have to confront in the future given the diverse threat landscape and the impact of technological developments like artificial intelligence and generative learning programs.”
About Charles Luftig
Charles Luftig is the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Policy and Capabilities and is responsible for ensuring the Intelligence Community is best postured for the threats and challenges of an uncertain future through strategy, policy, and capabilities development. He oversees seven organizations within the Policy and Capabilities Directorate: IC Human Capital; Acquisition, Procurement, and Facilities; Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity; Science and Technology; Data and Partnership Interoperability; Policy and Strategy; and Requirements, Cost and Effectiveness.
Mr. Luftig has extensive national security experience having served in a variety of national security roles, including at the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, and as Deputy General Counsel at the Office of Management and Budget where he provided legal advice and strategic counsel on areas that included information technology, cybersecurity, data privacy, Federal procurement, Federal permitting, and oversight of agency performance. He also served in multiple senior National Security Council positions. He most recently served as the Chief of Staff to the Director of National Intelligence.
Immediately prior to joining ODNI in January 2021, Mr. Luftig worked as a senior manager at Bridgewater Associates where he helped oversee four departments, focusing on issues such as cybersecurity and corporate policy, data governance, data privacy, security/technology risk, compliance, and third-party risk.
Mr. Luftig is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia School of Law.
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